It's well after midnight when Edmund hears a low howl from outside. He pushes off the wall of the cave, where he's been leaning for almost an hour. He'd been pacing the short width of the cave, but exhaustion had crept up on him, stilling his anxious movements. His muscles are stiff, and he's still stretching the ache in his back as Adan's sleek black form enters the cave, his coat speckled with ice and snow.
Adan shakes himself carefully by the entrance and then pads silently toward the fire. Edmund turns slightly toward the back of the cave as he passes. The girl's sleep has been restless, but she and Phillip remain asleep for the moment.
Edmund crosses to the fire and pokes at the coals before adding the last few large branch pieces. Adan carefully shakes out his paws, holding them near the fire to thaw as Edmund slowly sinks to the ground beside him. Edmund watches the Wolf for several long minutes, and it's not until Adan is still that Edmund finally speaks.
"What's your report?" Edmund asks, keeping his voice low. Adan, settled now on his haunches, turns to his king with a slight bow.
"I followed the trail back nearly to the border," Adan reports, careful to keep his voice low as well. He gets up and paces by the fire before settling next to Edmund again. Adan leans in close after sparing a glance at the sleeping princess. "They've camped at the base of the trail," he continues quietly, "Several men and their animals, bearing no crest or colors." Edmund glances back at the princess, pondering the information.
"Half a day behind at most," Adan continues. Edmund nods, knowing a mounted group could move much more quickly than his own group had today on foot. Even if Phillip carried both Edmund and the princess, they would still be outpaced.
"Forward, then," Edmund decides. Adan peers at the fire, his ears pointed back in agitation.
"We won't keep ahead of them for long," Adan says in a low growl. Edmund lowers his head and kneads the knotted muscles at the back of his neck.
"Cellox?" Edmund asks, still staring down at the stone beneath his boots.
"He's more likely to come across them than us," Adan answers. As an Eagle, Cellox had excellent vision even from extraordinary heights, but he'd be looking for them along the border of Corsecant, not on the mountain passes. Edmund curses himself for a fool. He'd known there was something suspicious about this whole situation– had argued that no good could come of it– and he should have known to keep Cellox with him, or at the very least have agreed to bring more than one flighted Beast in order to keep in contact with Peter. Now he was trapped with no good options.
"It will take us another three days to reach the ford, if not more," Edmund figures. Phillip can't carry more than one rider if they want to move at a good speed for long, and with at least one of the humans on foot they wouldn't be able to move very quickly anyway. He sighs, knowing he needs some way to buy more time— a distraction, a diversion, or plain old divine intervention. Show us a way, Aslan, he prays.
"I can make it in one." Edmund looks up sharply at Phillip's assertion. The Horse stares back at him steadfastly, his head raised slightly above the princess's sleeping form.
"It must be another thirty miles just to the river, Phillip," Edmund says slowly. The Horse carefully shifts away from the girl and stands, coming to join Adan and Edmund.
"It's not so far," Phillip says, "And the high king's men are just beyond in Lantern Waste, yes?"
"Which is another twenty miles at least," Edmund replies.
"It's not so far," Phillip repeats, "For a Horse unencumbered." Adan stiffens, his hackles bristling slightly as he catches the Horse's meaning.
"And in the meantime," Adan says stiffly, "we will be overtaken, one man and a Wolf against ten or more mounted enemies." Edmund sets a restraining hand on the Wolf's shoulder, and he can feel the low rumble of a growl.
"I thought you would quite fancy those odds," Phillip teases. Edmund, thinking at first that Phillip has misread the Wolf and his anger, tenses his grip on Adan's shoulder, but the Wolf simply huffs and turns away from the Horse.
"I don't mean to suggest abandoning you, your majesty," Phillip says softly, all hints of jest gone now. "I would send back reinforcements, the swiftest flighted Beasts the high king has at hand." Edmund considers this, trying to remember who had been in Peter's company and calculating possible speeds and distances.
"Could we hold out for another day or two?" Edmund asks Adan. The Wolf stares into the fire, but his ears are no longer pinned to his head and he seems calmer now as Edmund drops his hand from his fur. Adan then glances at the sleeping princess, considering. She's curled up more tightly in the absence of Phillip's warmth, but from her steady breathing Edmund is sure their whispered conversation has not caused her to wake.
"Possibly," the Wolf answers at last, "but definitely no longer." Adan's gaze shifts to Phillip, and the two share a significant look before Phillip nods and the two look to Edmund for approval.
"I don't see that we have much choice," Edmund says slowly. He greatly dislikes the idea of splitting up, but it may be the only plan with a slight chance of success.
"I'll leave at first light," Phillip says soberly. Edmund has no doubt the Horse will exert every effort to bring them aid, and he prays to Aslan they can keep ahead of their enemies until then.